One of my favourite memories of Singapore was trekking across to the east coast and enjoying in the famous Singapore Chilli Crab. Looking on the net, there are plenty of ways of making it, but here’s one that I’ve tried using a few elements from various recipes.
I’ve found a decent place in Chinatown that sells fresh crabs that I kill and clean at home. I’m not sure how it would turn out with the frozen variety. Try fresh as much as possible!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon of oil (any vegetable oil is fine)
- 3 tablespoons of minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
- 1/2 chopped onion
- shao xing wine
- 4 birds eye chillis
- 1 bottle of pureed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 spring onion chopped up
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon coriander chopped
- Fry ginger, garlic, onion in the oil
- Add chopped chillis and shao xing wine
- Saute crab until pink
- Add tomato and chilli sauce
- Add spring onion
- Pinch of salt
- Cook for a bit covered
- Just before serving, crack a scrambled egg into the sauce and mix together
- Serve and sprinkle with fresh coriander
Method:
When you’re done, serve the crab with freshly steamed Man Tao – you should be able to buy these in any Chinese supermarket in the frozen section. They only take five or ten minutes steaming. Alternatively you can fry them but it’s probably healthier not to.
